Home price delirium hits record high

By BARNEY BRANTINGHAM
NEWS-PRESS COLUMNIST

So it's finally happened. The median South Coast home sales price has hit $1 million.

On one hand, it's the American Dream on steroids.

Many families, retired or with average incomes, with average houses paid off or with small mortgages, are astonished to learn that they're now equity rich. Joe and Jill Sixpack are millionaires, at least on paper.

On the other hand, it's a nightmare for many others, including well-paid professionals. They find they can't afford to buy into the American Dream, Santa Barbara-style.

No one planned this craziness. And I doubt if anyone wants a community where their children have little or no hope of ever buying a home.

And no one I know has any workable answer. No matter what some people tell you, there's no way we can build our way into yesteryear's home prices. We can add some "affordable" units, but we're pretty much at the mercy of the "market."

Plenty of people want to move to this highly desirable community and so far plenty of them have the money to pay the price. "It's a beautiful place," one Realtor told me. "Everyone wants to live here."

The market's hot, the inventory of homes on the market low, multiple offers common and there's no end in sight.

I bought my first house here in 1960 for $16,900. I was astounded when the assessor notified me that it had actually gone up in value, not down like a used car. I'm stunned by the 2004 scene.

But there are homes under $1 million on the market. Good luck.